Built-up wheel



' oct. 12, 1943. H A, HOKE 2,331,780

BUILT-UP WHEEL original Filed May :5, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 @www @Y @fw TORNE YS.

oct. 12, 1943. H. A. HOKE 2,331,780

BUILT-UP WHEEL Original Filed May 3, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 12, 1943 Harryv A. Hoke, Altoona, Pa.,

Pennsylvania Railroad Company,

assignor to The Philadelphia,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application May 3, 1940, Serial No.

333,095. Divided and this application September 30, 1941, Serial No. 412,919 4 4 Claims.

This invention has general reference to built-up wheels and, more particularly, to locomotive and railroad car wheels of the species comprising a combined axle and crank pin center, and a rim supporting and load carrying flanges connected to said center, with or without acounterbalance pocket preferably exterior to one'of the iianges, and all of said parts welded together to form a composite wheel. Specifically, the present invention is a division from application, Serial No. 333,095, led May 3, 1940, by the present applicant for an improvement in Built-up wheels, and allowed August 1, 1941, now matured into Patent Number 2,274,545, issued February 24, 1942.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a composite wheel in which the hub and crank pin center as well as the rim are preferably fabricated from hard annealed steel, while the associated flange and spacer webs are made from soft steel of a specific composition commonly known in the art as' flange steel.

Another object is the provision of a-built-up wheel in which all of the components, with the exception of the center and rim, are made of a softer steel than said center and rim, such softer steel beingbetter suited to resist repeated shocks and loads.

A further object is to provide a drive wheel which is lighter in construction and cheaper to produce than heretofore, that will effectively resist the radial and lateral shocks and loads to which such lwheels are subjected, and in which the spacer and other components connecting the center and rim together aswell as to one another are so located as to ensure maximum strength while increasing the service life of the wheel.

Other objects with ancillary advantages of this invention will appear, as, the nature thereof is better understood, said inventionv consisting substantially in the novel features. of construction, arrangements and co-relation of parts, herein fully disclosed, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and then nally pointed out'and speciiically `defined in the concluding claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a broken side elevation of a rdrive wheel in accordance with this invention and having fragmentary portions removed or in section' to better disclose underlying details.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section, mately as indicated by the plane indicating arrows II-II in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a diametric cross-section on the plane III- III of Fig. 1, but drawn to a slightly larger scale for clearer illustration of important details. l

Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation, on a reduced taken approxi-` scale, taken within the confines vof the IV-IV inthe preceding figure. I

Fig.'5 is a radial section on the plane Fig. 1. 5 I Fig. 6 is a similar section on the plane VI-Q-VI `of the same-figure. f e I 'f Fig. 7 isa cross-section as viewed in the -direcgtion of thearrows VII-#VII inFig 5. f

Fig. 8 is a radial section approximately onthe 10 plane VIII-VIII at the left-hand of Fig.4 1'; and, Fig. 9 isa cross-section on the *plan'IX-IX within the'right-hand portion of said Fig. 1. ,V 1

In the following detailed description of the preferred f embodiment of this invention, shown vby theaccompanying two sheets 'of drawings, specific terms will bei employed for the sake of clarity; but it is to be understood thatsuch terms areused in a' general sense andl not for purposes of limitation. Y e i Y' Referring more in detail to the drawings which illustrate the instant improvements as incorporated in a locomotive main drive wheel I,` said Wheel ygenerally comprises a composite axle and crank-pin center 2;' a rim 3; inner and outer or back and front discs 4, v5, respectively; radial spacers 6', and a laterally enlarged counterbalf ance 1. The spacers 6 preferably have the outer and inner ends I9, 20,respectively, rectangu.

larly related with vrespect to the back disc Land the corners cut away at 23. f e The composite center 2 embodies an axle hub portion 8 with an eccentricallyrelatedor,crank! pin hub-section 9, each provided with akey-way I0, said center being preferably made in one piece, of what is known in the steel, of proper Jexture and strength for this part;

of the wheel I, and having the axle and crank?A pin hubs 8, 9 integral therewith. Ther` rirn 3 is also made vof the vsame type of `hard annealed steel, of channel cross-section, with back and front inner groovingg I I, lI 2, respectively, forpur` poses later on set forth. The back 4v of the Wheel I is preferably formed as a plate disc from .softeifgrade or what isknown as` flange steel, while'` the front-5 is of 'corresponding flange steel butidished or shaped to shallow coniform section;f whileone of the discs 4, 5, preferably the former,`

is provided with" a number of radiallyldirected elongate slots I3, best shown in Fig. 4, corr- Veniently arranged in aligned circumferential and equally spaced series, eachrserie's includingouter' and inner open endslots I3V respectively adjoining the rim B and'composite center 2, with the intervening slot" I3 medially between said rim andy hereinbefore referred to prior application. It is to .be'observedthat the, rim 3'has the yflange portions 52 thereof inwardly' center as sety forth'in'the directed, and that the spacers 6 have the outer parts I9 relatively reduced for butt engagement between said flange portie-ns '52 and rim 3, welds arrows ver in art as hard annealedv 8. In addition, the ilange portion annular grooves Il, I2 serve for respective reception of the outer beveled edges of the beek and front!- plate discs 4, 5; while the spacer edge `I8 abuts the back plate 4 and the inclined edge similarly engages the front wall 5 with weldstZl securingv it thereto. Y l The back disc 4, in addition to the radial slots key members 50 are applied to the rim 3 and secured in position by rivets 11 engaged through the blocks 64, 61, back, front and cover com- Y `ponents 4, 5 and 16, respectively.

The manner of assembling the several parts and the building-up of the Wheel shown by Figs,

1-9 will, after an understanding of the preceding explanation, be self-evident to those conversant With-the art, o1' on reference to the hereinbefore l3, I3 hereinbefore mentioned, is alsoprovided.

in the half-portion remote from the crank-pinl hub 9 with spacer interventing openings 56, preiL erably of the contour shown, for a purpose later explained. These openings 56 are closed in by a ,Sgment- 51, of annular plate contour, which also serves to reinforce the counterbalance- 1 at. the ,.back; said segment being permanently secured to the back disc 4 by a surrounding edge weld 58, as Well as having radialslots'lil,

tively, for subsequent llage by welding` material 30. Continuous inner llet weldsSQ` may also be fi, to bestadvantage..

Vformed around-the openings 56 seeFigs. 1, 5 and The front disc5 is formed with `radial spoke i` port'icrnrY $0-, within the confines` of` the counterbalance 1, defined by substantially triangulate cut-outs El converging inwards to the axle hubportion` lof. the composite center, 2, while Welds the straight sidesofethe.eut-outs` 6l, as clearly hubportion 9.; or, thewidest' separatedV radial spacers.Y 6', within thevstated limits, constitute the lterminal wallsy of .said counterbalance intermediate Ithe discs, 4, 5, Thesupplemental pocket or exterior portion of the counterbalance1 is conveniently constituted by rectangular section blocks 54. having axial bores 65' and secured to the outerface of the front disc 5 by welds 66,

saidblockshaving alignedsections 61', Fig. 7,

similarly secured between the Wheel rim flanges y l3,for registration with the underlying slotsdl, I3', respec- Specied parent application, Without speciiic elaboration herein. It is desired, however, to

' stressthe fact that, with the built-up wheel 30 '.52 unite said spoke-portione to, the hub-por- 52', with the bores 65 extendedthrough such sectionsas Wellas said ianges.` IntermediateV Vthe blocks. `64 are permanently secured arcual yelements, 68 having their disc engaging edges beveled at 69 for reception of welding material l1, and' thus forming an outer curved'wall for the counterbalance 1; while the end radlialspa'cers E.' have, registering bar, members 10 on. the outer face of,

the disc 5 ,and' securedto the adjoining arcual element endsy aswell as to the axle-hub 8 lbyy corner and line welds.1l,'12," respectively. In

order to further strengthen f3` preferably oftrapeziform. cross-section Ywith the narrower parallel side. in abutment with theaxle-*hub 8 are employed, L,aidbars being secured by .welds 13' ponent may alsoA be edgewelded to the axle-hub' Las indicated at 16" in Flg. 3'.' Arcual strips x,or

and render the coun-V terbalance '1` more rigidand eil'ective,V spacer bars 4,

and being provided withlongitu-A dinal bores14 for vpassage of rivets15, designed all shrinkage cracks are avoided, inasmuch s no cast metal is employed, the entire wheel with the exception of the rim 3 and composit cen-ter 2, being made otsofter steel, said wheel lis better suited to-resistyrepeated ,shocks andr loadsepplied lboth radiallyr and laterally in lservice and, inally,v the wheel herein; t disclosed is considerably lighterV in weight and cheaper to produce`.than cast steell correspondingwheels.

-Y While forl purposes of properlydisclosing the invention a practical` embodiment thereof has been. explained in detail, it is tobe understood the same is to bev consideredinxan illustrative sense, and that the invention is nqtpto be `limited thereto except asdefined bythe iollowingclaims, Having` thus described my invention, VIvclaim: 1. In a built-up driving wheel for locomotives a hub and. crank, pincentemnajrim;intervening front and back plate discsfradial reinforcing webs in connected abutment between ,said discs, rim and center; a main# eoifinterbalaiicepocket in the halt-portionof the Wheel remote lfrom the crank pin section; cuter conformatory sup7 plemental counterbalancepocket; means'aifording communicationbetweenthe main` and supplemental counterbalance: pockets; Ameans -jointly bracing .the counterbalance ,main` and supplee mental pockets comprisingouterf axially-bored elementsfof approximately vduadrilateral crosssection and inner similarly-bored elements of corresponding cross-section, located between the radial Webs, and respectively attached'to the Wheel Vand hub portionsiy and individual means vthroughthe siaide'lementsI forrigidly con-y necting them` to the -counterbalance structure' 2..A built-up locomotive driving wheel'as defined claim l-,fwherein the. counterweight pocket is formed',v by an approximately halisegment of. the rim Y andv a. chor'dfplate extended betweenl .the ends \of.sa`id. segment,- `and said chord-plate intersects' severallof ,the radial reinforcingwebs. .l f1 Y f 3.V A built-upA locomotive driving wheel as cle-Y ilnedinv claim4 1, wherein the counterweight pocket has alateral extensionto one.`side of the. Wheel, said.` extension being formed by supplemental arcuate rim and chord plates welded4 to r the discaat the aforesaid side. of the V,wheelQan'd v counterbalance is positively obtainablc.

, .l..Al locomotive. wheel'accoiding to clainrl,v

wherein the radial'lreinforcing Webs4 'areunif ormly spaced yciifcumferentially around the Wheeljand the bracing elementsv lare medially located'between said webs.

, HARRYA. HOKE., y 

